$40 million head coach floated as Penn State candidate after Kalani Sitake snub

Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell and BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The Penn State Nittany Lions are the last lady left at the club. You know, it may not be a bad thing. But as most major college football programs around the country find their new head coaches, PSU is still taking their time on finding a successor to James Franklin, who they fired back in mid-October.

The latest development is that BYU's Kalani Sitake is not taking the job after he was heavily pursued. Those BYU boosters stepped up to ensure the Cougars' head coach snubbed Penn State and stayed in Provo. After all, BYU has a Big 12 title game to win and possibly a College Football Playoff to compete in.

But you can see why this Penn State program takes its time hiring head coaches; they've had just three different coaches since 1966, when the Beatles released Revolver, and have only had four since the start of the 1950s. Only six worked the role in the last 95 years if we want to start going back to Great Depression era Nittany Lions, when helmets were leather and facemasks didn't exist.

One of those handful of men, Joe Paterno, held the post for nearly 46 full seasons and even won a few consensus national championships in the 1980s before stepping down amid a fairly disgraceful scandal involving an assistant coach of his in the 2010s. Nonetheless, there's one veteran member of the college football media who believes a head coaching candidate in that Paterno mold is sitting right in front of Penn State.

That man is Matt Campbell, tenured Big 12 head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones. Now, his ISU squad is a bit down in 2025's Big 12 title hunt thanks to a slew of midseason injuries, but overall, he's accomplished a heck of a lot in Ames and has always earned high regard from media and other coaches. For New York Times and The Athletic, respected CFB writer Ralph Russo suggested the fit between Campbell and State College.

Iowa State Cyclones football head coach Matt Campbell | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ralph Russo endorses Matt Campbell to Penn State

"A former D-III player at Mount Union, he talks a lot about building five-star culture and seems a good fit for a school that still believes in the 'Success with Honor' blueprint Joe Paterno first established," Russo explained in his piece. "His 72-55 overall record includes a 50-40 mark in the Big 12 — for a 128-year-old program that is still more than 100 games under .500 overall."

That's why the Cyclones inked Campbell to a major long-term deal this summer just weeks before the season. Starting with the 2025 season, Campbell is signed for eight years, through 2032, at a salary of $5 million per year before incentives. That comes out to a cool $40 million total deal, making him a very well-compensated Big 12 coach now that he's been around for 10 full seasons.

Russo adds that, "What Campbell has done in Ames, at a program with no history of even consistent winning seasons, has been transformative," reflecting those prior numbers. Campbell may be under the radar, but Russo is right, he's unquestionably been a smash hit at ISU.